Ironically the fridge we will have in our own prefab green home is the same size (maybe even smaller) as the European family in this clip. Like them, we embrace small footprint living, and that is reflected in the kitchen: we cook our own food, and cook daily, purchasing much of it from the Amish store or friend's farms or grow it ourselves... so no need for a big fridge. The fridge is for mostly any leftovers of a meal + a few items.

The freezer, however, *WILL* be much larger... why?
Not because I intend to stock up on frozen pizzas and buckets of hors d'œuvre from Costco ; ) (um, yeah- right) but because when I buy lamb, I buy A LAMB. And there will be venison to store.

"1. Bedrooms are for sleeping.
This is an extreme example, but there isn't even a master bedroom, the parents make up a sofa bed in the living room. The kids share a very tiny one. 2. There is storage for everything.
If you can't hide it you don't own it.
3. Minimize the use of drywall
It appears that every surface in this apartment is either glass or a built-in with a laminate face; almost kid-proof. Drywall is really a paper faced wall with a hairy surface that collects dust and mould; glass and laminate clean up easily."

The dining room view, stunning, and the host modestly introduces the view with,
"We like to spend time together as a family here..." Oprah responds, "Well that's wonderful. That's all that matters..." (as if she were implying, "well, 'least ya got *that*...")...

More:

"But this is their whole bedroom? This is their whole bedroom. You're kidding me."
"That's your whole refrigerator?" ... "But that was your whole refrigerator... right there."
"Is there another floor? Where do you sleep?" ... "I saw the bed? This is the bed! That was just...charming...?"

I could never imagine Oprah walking into a low-income row house and making these same comments.

1 Comments:

Yes, I was astonished by her attitude as well. While I can understand where she is coming from (rich, western lifestyle, where family and children are not valued), she certainly was judgmental, and I agree with you, she would have been more tolerant of a low income family. This video represents a cultural conflict. On one hand, Keynesian economics of fractional reserve banking requires ever increasing growth of the money supply through debt. On the other hand, some people can accept living within their means and avoid debt, while leaving their family with more time with each other rather than just chasing the dollar. This later group is a true enemy of the state's economic system. We should not be surprised by people's shock when we are considered heretics to their belief system.GL